


Across the sea.

by Rogue1987



Category: Football RPF, Lost
Genre: Airplane Crashes, Brotherly Bonding, Desert Island Fic, Fluff and Angst, I'm re-writing this, Lost AU, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2018-11-18 10:20:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11289270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rogue1987/pseuds/Rogue1987
Summary: The Real Madrid team crashes onto a deserted island of mystery.Relationships are tested, bonds are broken and reinvented. The island pushes everyone to the max.





	1. Prologue.

**Author's Note:**

> So many of you might recognize this story. I want to apologize for deleting the previous version of this, but I had way too many characters, too many plot holes and no clear way to end it without it looking like a royal mess. I hate unfinished stories and stories with bad endings negate the entire book ( in my opinion ). 
> 
> It's the same with a series, if the ending sucks for me the series is basically ruined. So with a heavy heart I deleted it, because I felt it was very imperfect and I knew I could do a much better job at it if I wrote it now, three years later with more experience as a writer. 
> 
> So I decided to re-write it, only shorter, with fewer characters and a better storyline. This is Across the Sea 2.0.  
> It will probably take me ages to finish this, and I know that I shouldn't make this because I still owe my other stories a proper ending but I couldn't resist. I'm weak apparently. 
> 
> I hope you guys like it, let me know if you do. 
> 
> I changed some things, I wanted Iker to be involved so in my story he never left. Sami didn't either. Raul and Guti are assistant coaches in my fic. Just because I need them in this story.  
> I'm sorry if I changed too much, but I feel that it was time for some new characters and I wanted to use the current team as inspiration.

_Somewhere over the pacific ocean. July, 2017._

 

 

 

 

Iker was, as always when he was confined to a metal box that somehow could fly, feeling awfully constricted by the narrow spaces around him.  
The air inside an airplane was too thin, the noise of the engine was distractingly deafening and the general feeling of knowing that you could plummet to your dead at any time had always made him an anxious flyer.

Being a famous Spanish goalkeeper unfortunately entailed that you spent most of your days trapped inside the flying coffins. He always chose an aisle seat so that he could often escape to the restroom to do some breathing exercises to calm himself, but they rarely helped.

Today they had just finished their pre-season matches in Australia and where now flying back to Madrid. For a long time during their ascension all he saw was the ocean, but now that they were higher up all he saw were white pillows of clouds, stretching as far as the eye could see.

To his right sat his younger brother Sergio, who was fast asleep as he always was two seconds after take off.

He wore his red Beats earphones that Iker knew were blaring with Flamenco music but somehow he always slept through it. It soothed him in a way.  
Had done so ever since Sergio was a child.  
Two hours into the flight, the kind British flight attendant made his way over to Iker to ask him if he cared for another drink.

He ordered a water and when the dark haired man brought it to him, he noticed the smirk on his face. ''What is it?'' he inquired curiously.

The flight attendant smiled again. ''Nothing sir, just that you might prefer something stronger, considering your obvious flight anxiety,''  
Iker cocked an eyebrow. ''Who said I'm _afraid_ of flying?''

''You did sir, body language never lies. I can always tell when people are scared to death from the moment they board my plane. You don't have to worry though, it's quite safe, I assure you,''

Iker stared blatantly at the man's name tag. Jamie, it read. ''Well Jamie, those are some great observant skills you have,''

''Thank you sir,''

''That wasn't exactly a compliment, but you're welcome I guess. It was my way of telling you that you were being very forward,''

Jamie gave him another sly look. ''Sorry sir, I guess I'm just a bit overwhelmed with meeting the great Iker Casillas. Me and Gary were absolutely stoked to get this flight, we are _huge_ Real Madrid fans. He hasn't shut up about it since we heard the news. That has been two full weeks where he's talked me ears off about catering this flight. It was driving me nuts honestly,''

Iker felt a bit embarrassed by his irrational fears all of the sudden. These guys flew on a daily basis and here he was, whining about it while he only had to do it for a few hours. They admired him and he was behaving like a whiny brat.  
Like Sergio would when he was throwing a fit. Their parents had dropped the ball a bit while raising him. Nothing was ever good enough for Sergio. He was a true diva sometimes.

Iker stared at the expectant man in front of him and swallowed thick. His hands were shaking and his breaths were ragged and fast. ''No need to apologize. It's always great to meet fans. And maybe you could bring me some red wine if you don't mind. You might be right that I do need it,''

Jamie's face lit up. ''Excellent! I'll be back in a bit,''

He walked toward Zidane who sat a few rows in front of Iker in the first few rows and typed in some orders on his handset. Guti and Raul were seated behind Zidane and were bickering about something small, probably the color of the sky. Those two could argue until your ears bled.  

Iker and Sergio were sitting right on the wing of the plane, a position Iker hated profoundly.

Marcelo and Pepe were in the seats in front of Iker, chatting in rapid Portuguese. Marcelo glared through the negative space between the seats and met Iker's eye. ''You okay?''

 _''U-hu,''_  
''You look pale,''

''I'm fine Marce,''

''You don't look fine, you never do when we're in the air. You look like you wanna throw up,''  
''Will you let it go please, I'm fine!''

''Do you know when someone is fine? When they yell at you and spit! Stop lying to us, we all _know_  how much you hate flying,''

''Marce, give it a rest,'' Pepe chided, coming to Iker's rescue as he always did.

Pepe was his warrior, the one who defended Iker on the pitch and off of it. Iker would trust him with his life for Pepe would never- _ever_ hang him out to dry.  
He would always have his back, no matter what happened between them. Despite of the fights they sometimes had over Sergio's irresponsible behavior.  
Pepe was there, he guarded him like a watcher on a wall. Everyone on the team respected him and trusted him with every fibre of their being. He was the designated papa bear of the group.

Marcelo wouldn't dare to go against Pepe so he pursed his lips together and fell back into a restless silence. He was still wiggling his arms and moving his legs because Marcelo just didn't have it in him to sit still. He always had to move. Life was far too fast and exciting for him to stand still. So he ran from one adventure to the next as the carefree, blissful summer child that he was.

''Look Iker, it will be _fine_ okay. It's a nice clear day outside, the risks of anything happening are extremely low,'' Pepe calculated. His brown eyes were sympathetic but Iker heard the slight aggravation in his voice.

A wave of turbulence came out of nowhere and shook the entire plane severely. The fasten seatbelt sign flicked on with a ping. A gripping fear took hold in Iker's heart. His fingers delved desperately into the leather of his armrest. He felt his nails breaking and a bead of sweat dripping down his temple.

Iker gave Pepe one of his famous death stares. ''You just had to curse it didn't you? Goddamn it,''

As quickly as the turbulence erupted, it died down again. Sergio jumped up from his slumber and stared wide eyed at his brother. ''What happened? Are you okay? You look horrible,''

''I-it was turbulence Sese, it's already passed see?''

Sergio conveyed him like a hawk. ''Okay but you still look like shit, what's the matter? Talk to me?''

Iker sighed. Arguing against Sergio was pointless, he would never let anything go so the best thing to do was just to reply. ''I have a very bad feeling about today. This plane, I don't know. I've felt like this is the day I was going to die from the moment I woke up. I'm scared we're going to crash,''

Sergio allowed a small smile to dance onto his lips. His hand curled around Iker's, the pressure of it warm and reassuring. It briefly reminded Iker on how Sergio used to cling to his hand for dear life whenever they were crossing the street as children, or wandering around in a mall or a theme park.  
Sergio would always hold _his_ hand, not their parents.  
He did that until he was seven and Iker officially declared him too old for it.  
Iker was four years older than him so wandering around the streets of Madrid with his little brother attached to him was embarrassing to him. Truth was that when Sergio stopped holding his hand, he often found himself missing it.

''You always feel like that when we fly, I know that you're afraid but you don't have to be. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I just hate seeing someone as confident as you being so anxious when you're in a plane. You're my rock Iker, and when you're all rattled like this, so am I. Sitting next to you for so many hours can be a real torture to be honest,''

Iker rolled his eyes at his little brother. ''Well you know what? Why don't you sit somewhere else then? There's plenty of open seats available around us! Why would you even _want_ to sit with me, we're brothers. Don't you want to sit with your friends? I never get it, why you want to sit with me if you _hate_ being around me in a plane. Explain that shit to me?''

Now it was Sergio's turn to be upset with him. They were always like this, hugging one second and at each other's throat the next. Their entire relationship was one of ups and downs. Mostly ups though luckily, but thanks to their enormous differences it was inevitable that they butted heads about basically everything.

Sergio's eyes looked glassy as he stared furiously at Iker. ''Who said I _want_ to sit with you? I sit here for you man, not for me. So you won't be forced to sit alone and suffer through your anxiety by yourself.  
I would rather sit with anyone but you during these journeys but I can't, because you're my blood. I owe you my damn loyalty after all you've done for me. So I suck it up and I take it. For you. Because you never let me down.  
But for the record: yes I would love to sit with someone fun for once, like Isco or Alvaro, but no, I'm stuck here with your surly, mopey presence, so thanks Iker for ruining yet another trip for me,''

Sergio unbuckled his seatbelt and wanted to stand up to find himself a nicer flight mate when the pilot's voice came over the monitor. ''Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. We like to inform you that the fasten seatbelt sign will remain on for the coming minutes due to the expectant turbulence we experience from the intense side wind. Please remain in your seats and stay calm. We have _everything_ under control. Have a pleasant flight,''

Sergio took ahold of Iker's bare forearm. ''See it's nothing. The stewards look fine, they're still smiling so it can't be too serious. Breathe in and out _Ikercio_ , you'll be okay. Promise. Like I said: I'm not going to let anything happen to you,''

Iker gazed thoroughly at the stewards, who were still walking around with radiant smirks on their faces and felt a wave of relief washing over his system. Sergio had a point, if it were serious they would be scared to death too. He saw Jamie nudging the other steward with his arm and pointing at him, like an exciting five year old that met his idol would do.

Iker's lips twitched up as he waved to the other unknown flight attendant. ''That's what I always said to you when you were growing up. And in the end it was always you protecting me instead of me doing it for you,''  
''Don't do that to yourself, I'm fine. I grew up fine thanks to you,''

''I should have done better,''

Sergio's hand waved that argument away dismissively. ''You did the best you could,''

''It wasn't good enough now was it? When push came to shove, I wasn't there to keep you safe as I promised,''

''Don't go there, seriously, _don't_. It's not the time or the place to bring that up,''

''If not now, then when?''  
''Never, as you swore to me,'' Sergio's face was more serious than Iker had ever seen it. All the light had evaporated from his eyes.

''Sese...''

''I love you Iker, and I don't blame you for what happened to me. You need to remember that. Stop beating yourself up over something that you couldn't have done anything about. There's no point in crying over spilt milk,''

Iker grimaced bitterly. ''Sometimes when you say things like that, you're too much like me for your own good. You're rationalizing, which is something you picked up from me. You're not like that at all, you're pure emotion and extravagance and that's the way we all love you. One Iker and one Sergio, that's how this relationship works okay. We can't have two Iker's, everyone around us will die of boredom,''

''Well that's definitely a fact. One Iker is barely bearable, let alone two,'' Sergio was only teasing, Iker could tell. He nudged his ribs to retaliate because some things never changed. In a way they were still those little boys who had been bugging the hell out of each other since birth.  
That was the one difficult thing in working with your family. It was hard for Iker to be objective when it came to Sergio. When Raul still was the first captain and Guti second, it hadn't been that bad. He had been third captain and Sergio fourth.

But now that he was first and Sergio second, all responsibility rained down on him. When Sergio screwed up, and that happened quite a lot, it was up to him to chastise him for it, make him pay, but Sergio was Iker's weakness.  
He had always been very defensive of him. No one could bully Sergio or pick on him aside from Iker himself. When Pepe and Marcelo told him to tell Sergio off, Iker couldn't balance the line between work and family any longer and went into his protective big brother mode. Even if Sergio was one hundred percent in the wrong.

He knew his teammates hated it when he did that, and he realized that they were right but still, he couldn't disregard his feelings toward keeping Sergio safe. Rationally he knew he was being utterly ridiculous but when it came to Sergio, he was frail.  
And Sergio knew it. He used it to his advantage every now and then.

He conveyed Sergio sternly. ''Well thank you for that,''  
''What else am I here for?''

The plane took a dive downward suddenly, creating that similar feeling in Iker's stomach that he experienced while he rode a roller coaster that flipped upside down.

He heard Sergio yelping beside him and saw the oxygen masks being dropped through the roof. He grabbed ahold of one and placed it over his face as he frantically tried to stay calm but failed miserably. They were going down.  
He knew he should not have boarded this plane, he had felt it in his bones that something was wrong today.

Luggage was collapsing out of the overhead compartments and he saw one of the stewards falling down in the middle of the aisle. He was sliding forward as the plane dove with it's nose down.  
Iker saw him slipping past them and extended his hand out to him to hold him but he missed. He had reacted too late. The steward was out of sight now. Sergio was screaming beside him, bellowing into his mask as his fingers scraped over Iker's arm.

He gazed out of the window and saw that the clouds had vanished. Oceans of green were meeting his eyes. Land.

They were going to crash on land. Not water, that didn't exactly enhance their survival rates.  
Iker finally saw the familiar blue of the sea and calculated that they would probably end up in the water. Until the plane broke into two and he felt himself being launched into the abyss.

And then everything went dark. The last thing he heard were Sergio's muffled screams echoing in his ears. They were going to die. Iker knew it. The darkness swallowed them whole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

_TBC......_


	2. Down from the sea we rise.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iker wakes up after the crash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit shorter than I wanted it to be, but I have no time to write more today. Tomorrow I have to work so I won't be able to write then. I hope you like it. I know I'm changing tons of this story the second time around. This won't be at all like the first draft was. I've brought in new characters like Toni and Lucas.  
> Guys like Mesut won't even make an appearance in this. 
> 
> Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading! <3

_Somewhere in the in-between._

 

 

Iker's ears were ringing mercilessly. Around him there was only darkness, but for some vague reason he had expected heaven to be silent. All he heard were screams and the roaring of deafening engines. Strange. He felt someone frantically pulling at his arm. An unfamiliar voice was echoing in his ears.

The darkness endured. Triumphed. Iker felt alone and terrified. He had been afraid of the dark since he was a child. This wasn't exactly how he had imagined heaven to look like.

A stream of something wet and sticky slithered over his forehead. He wanted to move his finger to collect it but his arms seemed paralyzed. He saw a little boy stepping out of the darkness, offering his hand to Iker.  
He knew that boy, with his bobcut hair and gleaming chestnut eyes. He wore his favorite power rangers backpack on his shoulders, he never went anywhere without that silly thing.  
Sergio had come for him. ''Come on Iker, we'll be super late for school!'' the boy shouted. Before Iker could retort Sergio had vanished again.

Two strong hands slammed on his chest and finally Iker felt himself waking up from his dreaming. He inhaled a huge gulf of air and slid his eyes open with a stifled groan. Everything hurt, the air around him was scorching hot.

The sun was so fierce it blinded him. ''Mister Casillas? Are you okay?'' the steward from the plane asked.

What was his name again? Iker couldn't recall. Apparently he was not dead then. Seeing Sergio had probably been a dream or a hallucination. People had those when they passed out.

''W-what the hell happened?'' he croaked.

The steward swallowed thickly. His uniform was torn in various places and he was bleeding from his knee. ''We crashed on an island sir, you weren't breathing but I managed to bring you back with CPR,''

Iker's heart sank into his stomach. They had crashed? He couldn't even remember getting on an airplane, let alone crashing onto some tropical island.

Probably a side effect to his brain not getting any oxygen when his heart had stopped, he thought.

He feverishly looked around and took in his new surroundings. There was numerous parts of wreckage lying around on the sand, in front of him was a shiny blue sea and he had a root of a tree sticking into his back.

Some of his teammates were wandering around looking utterly lost and disheveled. He saw Marcelo curled up in Pepe's arms, who rocked him as if he was a crying baby.  
The steward ripped off a piece of his sleeve and wrapped it skillfully around Iker's forehead. ''You're bleeding sir,''

''Oh thank you, hey did you see my brother? Sergio?''  
''No, I'm sorry,''

''I gotta go find him,'' Iker said, as he desperately tried to swallow his panic away. He had to focus. Sergio would be _fine_ , he always was.

He would come wandering out of that jungle in no time, Iker knew it. He was a favorite child of the sun, radiant and charismatic, born for success. While Iker was as the moon, pensive, gloomy and calm.

Always working his ass off to achieve the things Sergio achieved with a flick of his hand. Some people were simply made for greatness, others could only hope to ever even reach for the stars. But thanks to Sergio's victories, Iker managed to see what that was like, through his eyes.

There had only been one time that luck hadn't smiled on Sergio and that had cost him so much that even after hours of therapy still never released him from its grasp. Sergio's original, carefree spark had been diminished.  
He was still a great charmer though, because that was in his nature and he was one hell of an actor, but Iker knew better. Sergio would never again be the boy that God smiled on.

''No sir, you should stay put. You could have brain damage for all we know. You need to realize that you nearly _died_ all right? You're not going anywhere,''

Iker ignored that and rose to his feet. A dizzy streak hit him instantly, but he managed to stay on his feet and hoped the steward wouldn't notice. ''I can't just sit here and do nothing while my friends are in trouble and my brother is missing! I have to help out! Don't even try to stop me, I'm far more stubborn than you are,''

The steward grinned at that. ''Oh I wouldn't count on that, but fine, you can come along. Just let me know when you start to feel dizzy,''  
''I will,'' Iker lied.

He followed the steward to the beach and found a pale looking Raul, pulling on a metal emergency door that was crushing Guti's leg. ''Hey Iker! Can you help me out here! I can't get the fucking thing off!'' Raul scowled.

Guti was seemingly unconscious and was bleeding from his stomach. He looked more dead than alive. Raul seemed to be relatively unscathed. ''Hey, what's your name again?'' Raul asked the steward. ''Jamie,'' he retorted.

''Right, Jamie can you help us lift this thing off of him?''

''Of course, can you take that end there?'' Jamie asked Iker, who nodded and clasped onto the right side of the emergency door. ''Okay, on three,'' Raul ordered. His face was a like a death mask.

Iker saw the concern drooping from his features. Guti meant more to Raul than anyone else on the planet, losing him would not be an option.

Iker tried to ignore his spinning head but the heat, his throbbing headache and his dry throat weren't exactly helpful. He was even seeing double now. There were two Raul's desperately shouting in his ear to pull when he counted back to one. So Iker did.  
He lifted the door with all the strength he had left, which wasn't much.  
Somehow the door moved and they actually managed to tear it off Guti. Iker highly doubted if he had been much help.

Raul jumped down to check on Guti. He was shaking his shoulders and patted him gently in the face. ''Chema!! Hey wake up! Come on man don't do this to me. Not like this. Wake up!''  
Guti remained eerily silent. The blood was pooling from his stomach onto Raul's lower abdomen, drenching his white shirt. ''Can someone help me out here?'' Raul shouted desperately.

Jamie lowered himself into the hole in the sand and checked Guti's vital signs. ''He's breathing, but barely.  
We need to patch up his stomach with something sterile, bandages to stop his bleeding, but I don't have anything like that on me. Out here the risk of infection is enormous. But if he's gonna live, we need to stop the bleeding and stitch him up,''

''Oh he's _going_ to live, trust me. So what are you waiting for? Do it!'' Raul said fervently.

''I'm not a doctor sir, I only have some first aid training. Plus, I have no needle and thread,''

Iker's fingers darted over the insides of his jacket. ''But I do,'' he said. His grandmother always insisted that he bring a tiny sewing kit with him for if a button fell off his shirt and he kept it in his pocket at all times.  
He fished the kit out and handed it to Jamie. ''There, needle and thread. Go fix him,''

Raul's hands were already wet with Guti's blood, seeing how he was pressing down hard on the wound to stop the bleeding. His eyes were shining hopefully when Iker mentioned the sewing kit.

Jamie swallowed thickly. ''All right, I'll try. But I need a few things first. Some fresh water to clean his wound, there should be bottles lying around somewhere on the beach. And I could use a clean bandage or towel or something like that,''

''Go find it Iker,'' Raul got truly captain-like when Guti's life was at stake. Iker wanted to protest due to his wobbly legs and throbbing headache but arguing with Raul at this point, when Guti's life was on the line would be useless.  
So he ran off as quick as he could and found some half drank bottles of water on the beach. He drank the content of a full one in a failed attempt to ease his dizziness but all it did was lighten his strained throat.

Thankfully he found a clean shirt in a piece of carryon luggage and tore it to shreds, using the tiny scissors in his sewing kit.

He ran back to Raul, Guti and Jamie and handed him the supplies. ''I gotta find Sergio, do you mind if I take off?'' he panted. Jamie shook his head. ''No, I'm good here, find your brother,''

''Be careful,'' Raul warned.  
''I will, take care of him,'' he said with a nod to Guti. Raul smiled sad as he collected Guti's hand and pressed a kiss to it. ''Always,''

Iker ran back toward the beach. He saw some of his teammates sitting together. Lucas was holding onto Toni, who was crying openly. A strange sight, to see their sturdy German break down like that. Toni seldom showed any emotion.  
''You guys okay?'' Iker asked, as he squatted down beside them. They seemed to be relatively unharmed aside from a few cuts and bruises. Toni was murmuring something in German while he pointed at the clouds.

''We're fine, he's just in shock,'' Lucas replied. ''What is he saying?'' Iker inquired.

''He's counting airplanes that aren't there,'' Lucas exhaled deep. Toni's blue eyes were indeed fixated to the skies and his fingers were apparently counting something.

''Great,'' Iker snorted. ''Are you okay?'' Lucas asked concerned.

''Yeah, just a headache and some blood loss,'' Iker said evasively, ''hey did you guys see Sergio? I can't find him,''

Lucas shook his head miserably. ''No, I'm sorry. I'm sure he'll turn up soon. I mean this is Sergio we're talking about,''

''Usually I would agree with you but I have a really bad feeling about this one,''

Toni groaned something inaudible and buried his head deeper in the nook of Lucas' shoulder as he clasped onto him tight. ''It's okay Antonio, you're okay. I'm right here-see?''

Toni nodded, his blue eyes glassy and red. He placed his head to Lucas' chest and shut his eyes. Lucas wrapped his arm tighter around his shoulders. ''He'll be okay,'' he assured Iker when he saw his anxious looks.

Pepe and Marcelo were huddled together a few paces away from them, Marcelo was crying out for his mother, while Pepe tried to soothe him. Iker knew that symptoms of shock presented itself in numerous ways. Some people stayed eerily calm while others freaked out like never before. Fight or flight. Live or die.  
Iker checked on them briefly but Pepe told him that he was handling it, so he ran off again.

Cristiano was the next one he found, sitting in the sand. ''Cris, are you all right?'' Cristiano stared at him as if he'd never seen Iker before. ''Casillas, I'm doing good thanks,'' he said, grinning deep. He almost looked drunk. ''What's that in the water?'' Cristiano pointed out. Iker turned around and noticed that there was indeed someone in the water, screaming for help.

Cris rose to his feet and narrowed his eyes to see who it was. _''Karim_ , Iker, I think that's Karim!'' the panic in his voice said everything. The haziness he had displayed second ago had been replaced by clear realism. Cris was back to being himself. He no longer appeared to be in shock.

He took his shirt off, stepped out of his jeans and ran to the shoreline. ''Hey what the hell are you doing?'' Iker yelled after him, but Cris had already reached the shallow waters and swam toward Karim with a steady, experienced pace. Cris was a talented swimmer and Iker shouldn't worry about him, but due to his strange behavior a second ago, he was concerned.

But seeing how he was far too weak to go after Karim himself, he had little choice but to let Cris handle it. Iker's eyes followed Cris during his long journey to Karim. He saw the Frenchman's arms flopping up and down erratically and from time to time he couldn't see them at all.

He worried if Cristiano would make it there in time before he drowned.

A figure appeared to his left and bumped his arm gently. ''Iker?'' Dani's voice. Iker let out a huge gulp of air he didn't know he was holding and momentarily took his gaze off the water to look at Dani Carvajal. One of the youngest guys in the squad.

His dark eyes were keen and he had minor injuries. There were some holes in his clothing but other than that he appeared to be fine. ''Hey Carva, you okay?''

Dani shrugged. ''Think so-you?''

''I think so,'' Iker said, as he folded his arm around Dani's shoulder, collecting him close for support he didn't know he needed until that moment. It was all too much. Nearly dying, not being able to find Sergio. Seeing all of his teammates so distraught and injured.

Having to watch Karim drown and Cristiano probably joining him in his attempts to save him. Seeing Guti all mangled up and more dead than alive. He held onto Dani for dear life.

''What were you looking at?''

''Karim was struggling in the water, Cris went in to help,'' Iker heard how monotone his voice sounded and was disgusted with himself. His friends were drowning and he was talking about it as if he was making a grocery list.

Dani picked up on it, of course. The kid was far smarter than most people gave him credit for. ''Iker, I think you're in shock. You must have bumped your head pretty hard,''

''We're all in shock Dani, that is standard procedure with plane crashes I think,''

''Where is Sergio?''  
''Dunno, I can't find him. Did you see him?''

''No, I'm sorry,''

Iker felt the stone in his stomach swell up a size. Sergio _had_ to be okay, Iker wasn't sure he could live with himself if he wasn't. Dani's arm came around his waist and they stood there silently as they waited for any signs of life from the waves. ''Wait, I see them! I think!'' Dani called out as he pointed a far end to the right. The strong current must have carried them miles off.

Dani and Iker followed them and waited for Cris to come agonizingly slow toward the shore. Karim was floating on his back and Cris was hauling him forward the best he could.

''Goddamn it, help me!'' he screamed. Exhaustion must have set in by now. Cristiano's face went under water more often now. ''I'm going in,'' Dani said, resolute. He removed his clothing until all he wore were his boxers and stormed into the water.

Again, all Iker could do was wait. Which had never been his forte. He had always been impossibly impatient, Sergio had inherited that trait from him.  
When they finally managed to reach the shore, Iker stumbled into the ocean to haul Karim's limp body to safety. Cris fell face down into the sand, panting and wheezing as the exhaustions took ahold of him.

Iker offered him a bottle of water he'd found in the wreckage and fed it to him. ''You're safe now, it's okay. You got him back,''  
Dani was checking on Karim, patting his chest roughly to get him to cough out the water he ingested. Which he luckily did, and he was conscious within moments.

''Hey, welcome back dude,'' Dani smiled, relieved. He hauled Karim up to a sitting position and fed him a bit of water. ''You feeling okay?''

''Yeah, thanks,'' Karim said shakily. ''Cris?'' he asked. Cristiano pulled himself off the sand and slid down besides Karim, folding his arm around his shoulder, pulling him close.

Karim's head lulled on his shoulder. ''Qui mon frere,'' Cris exasperated.

''Thanks for not giving up on me,'' Karim choked out.  
''Anytime brother, anytime,'' Cris smiled. The referral to brothers made Iker's heart cry out.

''Iker,'' Karim whispered.

Iker sat down beside him and took ahold of his hand. ''Yes Karim, what is it?''

''I h-have t-to tell you something,''

Iker's heart was pounding in his ears. ''Okay, then tell me,''

''Cris wasn't the only one who tried to get me out of the water,''

Oh god, don't say it. Don't you dare say it, Iker thought. He knew where this was going. ''Sergio was the first one who tried to reach me, but the current carried him away from me and I haven't seen him since. I think he-he drowned Iker,'' Karim's words were laced with emotion.

Karim had been very attached to Sergio since day one. They had been really close. Iker heard the tears behind Karim's words.

A giant anvil landed on his chest, crushing what remained of his heart into countless pieces. Sergio was dead. Drowned. Lost forever. Tears welled up in his eyes, as their entire childhood flashed before his eyes. His baby brother was gone.

No, he couldn't believe that. As long as there was no body, he could still be alive. If Sergio were here he would tell Iker to stop being so negative and to just have a little faith that everything would work out.  
Sergio always saw the positive things in life and tactically diverted the negatives. He would tell him to stop being so ridiculous and mock him for even allowing himself to think that he would have drowned.

Sergio had always been one hell of a terrific swimmer. As a boy he had won countless medals. It was impossible to get him out of the water when they were on holiday. He could spend the entire day in a pool or in the ocean, enjoying it most to swim countless yards under water. Sergio _wouldn't_ have drowned.  
Not with all of his experience.

He might have drifted off thanks to the current, but he would have made it back to shore without a doubt. Iker had to believe that. The other option was far too gruesome to digest.

No, Sergio was alive and Iker was going to find him, even if he had to search for a thousand years.

 

 

 

 

 

_TBC......._


	3. This is my kingdom come.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iker meets more new people. 
> 
> They set up a party to search for supplies in the cockpit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update this! I had zero inspiration for any of my stories. I've been crazy busy, moving into my new house and all that. 
> 
> Oh well, I finally updated.  
> I decided to put Sawyer in this story because he was always my favorite on Lost. 
> 
> Also a character from the 100 makes his appearance. I hope you like it!

_Day one._

 

 

 

After Karim had told him he assumed Sergio had drowned, Iker had stormed off into the jungle to throw up. It was mostly water seeing how he hadn't eaten much that day due to his stress, and afterward he felt even worse than before.  
He knew he should hold onto hope that Sergio would be fine, because as they always said in the movies _'without a body someone probably isn't really dead,'_ but life wasn't a movie, or an unbelievable soap series where people died and then magically came back to life after surviving their own cremation or something like that. In real life, people died and stayed dead.

If the current claimed you, the sea could be merciless. It would swallow you whole, no matter how great a swimmer you were.  
The waves would always win. And now it seemed like they had taken his brother from his life. The one person Iker couldn't live without. Who meant more to him than anyone else on this planet.  
Iker felt bile rising in his throat again but nothing came out this time. Tears were drooping down his cheeks and snot slipped from his nose. He was an absolute, pathetic mess.

His head was throbbing and murdering him slowly. It felt like someone was shoving needles in and out of his brain.

He heard footsteps creeping up behind him and turned around to see who it was. Cris was standing in his eyesight, looking remorseful. That's what Iker loved about him, no matter what they'd been through together, Cristiano would always come for him if he needed him. The Portuguese stepped forward tentatively and placed his hand on Iker's forearm, squeezing it gently. ''Iker, I'm _so_ sorry,''

Iker shook his head furiously. ''No need, Sergio isn't dead Cris. I would know it in my heart if he were,''  
''But Karim said-''

''What he _thinks_ he saw. Look, I know my brother all right? He's an amazing swimmer, he would never drown. The current probably just dragged him a few miles off shore, he will come strolling back to us before you know it,''

''I hope you're right,'' Cris said, realizing that it would be crucial to let Iker keep his hopeful delusions. ''I will be, don't worry,'' Iker said firm. He wiped his nose with his cheek, dried his eyes and gathered himself together. ''We should go back, see if we can do anything to help,''

Cristiano pursed his lips together, creating a thin line, which Iker knew meant that something was on his mind. ''There are more people missing by the way. The tail section of the plane landed somewhere else apparently. The plane broke in half mid-air and the tail is missing. Along with all our friends who were sitting there,''

''Fucking hell, the hits just keep coming,'' Iker grumbled.

''Yeah, but we'll find them. I know it,'' Cris had barely spoken before they heard an enormous blast coming from the beach. A heaping pile of smoke erupted above the tree-line and Iker could literally feel the heat of flames reaching them, heating his cheeks.  
Something had exploded. Probably the gigantic engine that Iker had seen lying on the beach earlier. He and Cris turned on their heels and stormed off to the crash site to see what had happened.

''My god,'' Cris mumbled as they saw the damage that was done. The engine had blown up, leaving countless dead or injured bodies lying on the sand. Iker saw Jamie coming from the smoke curtain, looking shaky but mostly unharmed. ''It-it just b-blew up,'' he stammered, voice breaking. Cris half captured him when he fell to the sand, trying to keep him up and talking. ''Stay with us buddy, hey we need your help to take care of the wounded,''

Jamie nodded weak but shut his eyes despite of the pep-talk, so Cris slapped him hard in his face. ''Cris!'' Iker snapped, affronted.

Jamie's eyes flew open and he was looking much sharper now. Luckily.

Cris stared at him sheepishly. ''What? We need _help,_  we can't do this by ourselves. You're half alive and I'm still tired from the swim,''

''Help!!!'' a voice came from the muffled sounds of burning flames. It sounded like Toni. Iker felt his legs move automatically and they found Toni lying in the hot sand, a chair pressed on top of him that pinned him down. His arm was bleeding.  
The chair wasn't stuck but Toni didn't have the strength to pull it off himself without help so Iker, Jamie and Cris hauled it off of him. The German panted relieved when the weight was being removed from his ribcage.

''You okay?'' Cris asked. Toni nodded. ''Lucas was right beside me when it happened, I don't see him,'' a deep and profound panic was dominating Toni's voice. ''Lucas!!!'' he screamed. No answer came.

A few meters away from them a lifeless body lay in the dirt. Toni spotted it and stormed toward it, hauling parts of debris off his back. ''Lucas! We're coming,''  
When he had removed the last part of rubble, they found the unconscious Spaniard. Lucas had a head wound and was breathing raggedly but he was alive. ''Oh thank god,'' Toni exclaimed. He hauled Lucas up and collected him close to his chest. ''You're okay, I got you. I'm here,''

''See if you can help him out okay, we have to keep looking for the others,'' Iker said to Jamie. ''All right, be careful, there might be after shocks from the explosion. Residual fuel can still be lethal,''

Cris and Iker kept on searching. They found Marcelo and Pepe relatively unscathed, apart from some minor bruises and cuts. Some of the crew members were lying dead in the sand. Two of them were physiotherapists and one of them was an assistant trainer. Raul was still holding onto Guti and thanks to their position on the beach, they had stayed clear of the explosion. Iker could tell by the emptiness in Raul's eyes that he would be unresponsive to any words right now, and therefore unhelpful in their search for others. 

Karim and Dani were all right too. They found Zidane under a pile of rubble, barely breathing. He was covered in blood and it took Iker a long time to find a pulse. ''I don't think he's going to make it,'' he murmured to Cris.  
Cris' eyes teared up instantly. They had all loved Zizou with all their hearts. They admired him, looked up to him as a person, a former player and now their coach. He held them together, taught them all he knew.  
Out here in their current predicament they couldn't afford to lose him. People would become unhinged without him there to keep them together as a group.

''We _have_ to do something,'' Cris said astutely.

''I want to help him, but unless we find a real doctor out here I doubt we can,''  
''We can't just let him die like that,''

''Cris, look at him. His organs are probably crushed. He could have massive internal bleeding. We can stitch him up, but if he's already dying from the inside out, there isn't much we can do for him,''

''But we don't know that do we? We have to try. He wouldn't give up on us either. We owe him,''

''I know that, and we will try, obviously. I'm just worried that he'll die no matter what we do,'' Iker sighed.

''Wow talk about depressing shit jackass,'' a sarcastic voice behind them quipped. A towering blonde man they had never seen before made his way toward them. His hair reached his shoulders, his eyes were deep blue and sharp and he was taking drags of a cigarette. He was wearing a dark flight attendants outfit and looked cocky. His jacket was missing and he wore a white t-shirt and dark pants.

Iker didn't recognize him from the flight, perhaps he had been serving the tail section of the plane.

''Who the hell are you?'' Cris asked.  
The blonde took another drag of his smoke and exhaled the air into Cristiano's face, something that would infuriate him seeing how Cris hated smoking people around him. ''Wouldn't you like to know that pretty boy,'' he sneered. His accent was southern American and he had that typical smartass look on his face that told Iker that whoever this was, this man was sure that he was always right, even if he wasn't.

''You can just tell us your name can't you? You don't wear a name-tag,'' Iker preened.  
The man smiled wide, revealing a row of sparkly white teeth. His smile was a bit off however. ''Call me Sawyer,''

''Right Sawyer, so can you help us out with him?''

Sawyer scoffed. ''No,'' he said bluntly, before he turned on his heels and left. Disappearing into the jungle, leaving two stunned players behind. ''I see you guys met Sawyer,'' Jamie said, who was suddenly standing behind them, scaring the shit out of them.

''Yeah, what the fuck is his deal? He won't help out,'' Iker told him.

''I'd be shocked if he would honestly. He's a jackass. All he really cares for is himself. We all _hate_ him. He's a real basket case. A bottom feeder,'' Jamie spat, eyes laced with discontent. ''I should have known he would have survived this, the worst ones always do,''

''We need to get Zidane back to the assembly area,'' Cris interrupted. Jamie hesitated. ''I'm not sure we should move him considering the state of his injuries. We need medical supplies and we need them now. We have too many wounded out here and we can't have them all dying of infections,''

''So what do we do?'' Iker wanted to know.  
''The medical kits are stashed near the cockpit. But we don't know where it landed, it could be anywhere,''

Iker put his hand over his eyebrows and peered over the crash site. ''It can't be far, seeing how we landed here, the debris must be in a two mile radius from us. We should set up a search party with everyone who isn't injured. There must be more supplies in the wreckage. Food, water and such,''

Jamie mused on it for a moment. ''There are, but it's turning dark soon and I'm not sure wandering around in the jungle at night is such a good idea. There are wild animals and there could be hostile people living here, we can't know for sure if this island is uninhabited,''

''You _have_ to try,'' Raul said, who stood behind them suddenly, looking sick with worry. ''Chema isn't doing so hot guys, he needs medicine now. You have to try...please,''  
His former captain was begging. Something that Iker had never seen him do before.

''We will,'' Iker assured him. Going on a search party would give him the chance to look for Sergio while he was at it. He couldn't wait to go despite his consuming headache and his reoccurring dizzy spells. His heart wouldn't feel anything until he would have his brother in his arms again. Without him, Iker always felt hopelessly alone. Cold. Empty.

Raul gathered everyone on the beach and asked them who wanted to go with Iker, Jamie and Cris on the search party. Karim volunteered to go with them and so did Dani, but the rest stayed put. Wanting to help out with the wounded. Cris put on a backpack they found in the wreckage and Marcelo filled it with bottles of water and a few bags of nuts they'd found.

As the five of them wandered into the jungle, they got some company. Sawyer joined the group silently, slithering behind Dani, without anyone noticing his presence. It wasn't until he lit a smoke with a loud click that they finally discovered he was there.  
''What the fuck are _you_ doing here Sawyer?'' Jamie bristled angrily.

Sawyer shrugged.  
''Yeah you said you didn't want to help out,'' Iker remembered.

Sawyer grinned, his cheshire smile wide and malicious. ''I'm a complex guy sweetheart,''

''Not really,'' Jamie disagreed. ''You always have an agenda, so what is it now? What are you here for?''

Sawyer raised an eyebrow, still smiling. ''Not you,''  
''Jeez I never would have figured that,'' Jamie retorted sarcastically.

''Does it matter why I wanna come? Or don't you need any help now?''  
''Not from you!''

''Let him stay,'' Dani said, his sultry voice cutting through the tension like a knife.  
Jamie blinked. ''Why?''

''Because we do need help don't we? He's offering to help, so I say we let him come along,''  
''You don't know what you're getting into kid, this guy is all sorts of wrong,'' Jamie said, shaking his head disapproving.

''Jesus grumpy, stop talking like I'm the antichrist or something. I'm coming, can we get this show on the road? People are dying and all that,'' Sawyer reminded them.

''Like you care about that,'' Jamie groaned loudly. He shut his eyes, probably praying for patience, or for some restraint to not strangle Sawyer. ''Fine, move your selfish, worthless ass you hillbilly,''

''Always such a sweet talker ain't you? Don't try to lecture me on being selfish, I know the only reason you're coming along is to find your gnarly boyfriend. He's missing too ain't he?'' when Jamie said nothing Sawyer nodded slowly. ''Yeah that's what I thought,''

''Get the fuck out of my face right now before I kick your ass into the dirt where you belong,'' Jamie hissed, shoving Sawyer out of his proximity.

''Can you two shut the fuck up, our friends are dying!'' Karim was nearly shouting, something so unique that everyone obeyed. Karim never lost his temper, he was the calmest, most balanced guy Iker knew. Seeing him so distraught was unsettling to say the least.

Sawyer smiled at Karim, revealing that predatory smirk again. ''I like you kid, you got spunk,'' Karim just rolled his eyes at him and moved on. 

The group finally fell silent and made their way through the trees. Iker lead them, seeing how he had been a boy-scout when he was younger. Dani walked beside him, Sawyer and Jamie followed behind them, wandering through the jungle without looking at each other. Apparently this was their idea of a ceasefire.  
Cris picked up the rear, consumed in his own deep thoughts as was usual for him when he felt anxious. The sunlight was slowly disappearing and Iker knew that out here it would be dark in the blink of an eye. ''I need your lighter,'' he told Sawyer when the last dusk light vanished.

He broke a tree branch and wrapped an old scarf that Marcelo had given him around it. Sawyer threw his lighter to him, somewhat reluctant, as if he didn't like sharing his stuff. ''You'll get it back, don't worry,'' Iker reassured him.

When he lit his home-made torch he flung the lighter back to Sawyer, who caught it and instantly lit another smoke. ''Are you kidding me right now?'' Iker sneered.  
Sawyer blinked confused. ''What?''

''Put that out!''  
''Why?''

''Because I can't focus on tracking anything with that disgusting smoke clouding my senses,''  
''I'm walking behind you jackass,''

''There exists something called 'wind' you _jackass_ ,'' Iker retorted dryly.

''Look Sawyer, just put it out all right?'' Jamie intervened when Sawyer opened his mouth to bark out a catty response. ''Let the man do his job,''  
Sawyer pursed his full lips together and threw the cigarette in the dirt with a furious face. ''There, happy now?''

''Not really,'' Jamie mumbled back.

They walked for another half hour before Iker finally found a useful trail. ''I got footprints, I think we're getting close,''  
He tried to identify the print as one of Sergio's Nike sneakers but failed miserably. What little hope he had felt for a moment evaporated as quickly as it had emerged.

''Hey I think I see something,'' Sawyer stated, as he pointed at something through the tree-line.

Iker snorted, involuntarily impressed. The son of a bitch had actually found the cockpit. To be fair he was a lot taller than most of them so he probably had a wider perspective. ''Nice work,'' he complimented the American.

They stormed toward the nose of the plane and examined the crash site closely. Surprisingly the nose of the plane seemed relatively unscathed. The first five rows of seats had remained intact.  
The plane was lying, nose down in the dark earth, no signs of life coming from it. The group decided to enter it one by one, to be safe.

Iker went in first, being an eldest child and captain he was used to taking the reins. Leaders should always go first, in his humble opinion. When the team failed it was always the fault of the captain. They were after all the one steering the ship toward victory or failure. Success was born from great leadership. When Guti and Raul left the team it had been difficult for Iker to accept the fact that all responsibility lay with him from then on. He had Sergio as his vice captain obviously, but he was the one in charge. The weight of the world rested on his shoulders and nobody else's.

He shone his torch toward the seats checking for signs of life. Most of the staff were missing or dead. The pilots were dead too.  
''Did you check him yet?'' Iker asked Sawyer, with a nod to Romero, one of their assistant trainers. ''Yep, dead,'' Sawyer said monotone, sounding like he was highly bored.

''Show some _respect_ asshole, these were real people. With hopes and dreams. They had names, families, kids,'' Iker blurted out.

''Yeah they did, and now they don't. Cause they're gone. It happens when planes crash,'' Sawyer was sounding like a wiseass, a bit like Sergio could sometimes, which infuriated Iker even further. ''Get out of my face before-''

A knocking sound cut through the muffled air. ''H-hello!''  
Karim's face veered up, his ears keen. He had always had amazing hearing. ''Shhh, did you hear that? Someone's alive,''

''I think it's coming from the bathroom,'' Jamie mused.

Karim stumbled toward the toilet and slid the door open, nothing. He tried to open the door on the opposite side but it was jammed by something. ''It's stuck, hey is someone there!'' he shouted, as he banged on the door.

A faint banging replied anxiously. ''Yes, I can't get out! Please get me outta here!''  
''I'm trying but the damn door is jammed by something,'' Karim grunted.

''Let's pull together all right?'' Iker said as he put his hands on the door handle. Karim, Dani and Jamie clasped onto the door on various sides, bracing themselves to pull.  
''Okay on three, one, two three,'' Iker ordered. They pulled as hard as they could but the door just wouldn't budge.

''Goddamn it,'' Jamie swore, exhaling loud. ''Please do something!'' the panic in the man's voice was literally palpable now. Iker sensed his burning desire to be freed from the door that was holding him like a sardine in a can.

''We're trying everything we can, just hang in there okay!'' Karim tried to calm the man, but he only banged agains the door louder and more frantically. ''So what do we do? How do we open this bloody thing?''

Iker was usually good at thinking logically but due to his suspected concussion his rational brain seemed to be on lockdown. It seemed as if he had sawdust in his brain matter instead of synopsis. ''I don't _know_ , I can't-think!'' Iker blurted out when all eyes, inevitably, went to him for a solution.

''Great timing for a meltdown Iker,'' Karim said, shaking his head.

''Hey ease up man, he has a concussion. It's not his fault it's not all working right. He should be resting back at camp, not running around here trying to find help for his friends,'' Jamie said, defensively.

''He's not just here to find his friends, he's mostly here to find Sergio,'' Cris interjected.  
Iker eyed him angrily. ''E tu Brutus?''

''I'm not blaming you, but you know I _hate_ hypocrisy right? You're not just here for our friends, you're here to find your brother. And we get that, truly, but don't pretend as if you're only in this for our friends,''

Iker felt heated resentment pooling in his stomach. He was used to this type of shit with Cristiano. When they had been dating his relationship with Sergio had been a regular topic during their fights. ''I wasn't-''

''Can you two stow this shit for another time and focus on the problem ahead for once?'' Dani snarled, conveying the shut door as if it were a difficult crossword puzzle he wanted to solve just by looking at it.

''I'm not feeling so well,'' the voice whined from behind the door. He was probably not getting enough oxygen. They had to hurry. Everyone was staring at Iker again, as if he would somehow find the answer to the problem ahead of them. ''I don't _know_ what to do about the fucking door!''

''And the inventor of the door rests happily in his grave,'' Sawyer grinned. He had slumped himself down on one of the business class seats like it was his throne and was flipping through a magazine, looking far too relaxed.

''Maybe, instead of doing nothing you could help out for once? Pitch an idea on how to fix this?'' Iker said, gritting his teeth.

Sawyer put his magazine down in his lap and shrugged. ''Well I could, but I'm not the one stuck behind the door so why would I?''  
''Stop being a dick and contribute to a solution for once in your fucking life!'' Jamie's patience had run its course.

Sawyer folded his arms together. ''All right, you know what I learned from this? That you should never underestimate a door. Happy now?''  
''That's not a solution but a very _useless_ observation,''

''Oh you want an actual solution?''  
''I swear to god I'll kick you in the face at the end of today if-''

''Calm down Atlas, I'll hold the world for you for a second so you can un-clenge your wound up ass,'' Sawyer slid off his seat and wandered to the door.

He grabbed his wallet from pocket and asked for some space. Everyone backed up and the door was open in less than a minute. ''You're welcome,'' Sawyer smirked, as he slumped back into the seat, taking a drink from one of the mini bottles of Absolute Vodka.

When he smiled deep like that, a set of dimples appeared in his sculptured cheeks. The man, no matter how dislikable as a human being, was undeniably gorgeous. Though he was only realizing that now that he saw those dimples.  
Iker briefly wondered if he had been a model before he became a flight attendant. He quickly discarded that theory because no one with that type of attitude could ever be a model.

He didn't have long to think about it, because the boy in the bathroom was claiming his attention. He tumbled out of the tiny box and fell forward into Dani's arms. ''Whoa, easy buddy, I got you. You're okay,'' Dani said soothing, but the boy was in full panic mode.  
He was crying and shaking in Dani's arms. His hair was dark blonde and an inch shorter than Sawyer's hair. His eyes were gray and he had a scrawny posture.

''Do you remember your name?'' Karim asked sharply.

The boy nodded quivering. ''John Murphy,''  
As Dani told him their names, Iker turned back to Sawyer. ''How in god's name did you get that open?''

Sawyer laughed mockingly. ''Professional secret Casillas,''  
''So you watched burglary videos on youtube or something?''

''Yeah, or _something_ ,'' Sawyer quipped, mysteriously. When Iker turned around, Sawyer spoke once again, softer this time. ''But uh, you do know you gotta serious problem on your hands right?''

''Oh? What's that?''

''The kid,'' Sawyer said, nudging his head to John Murphy. ''What about him?''

Sawyer gestured Iker to come closer, his face hovering near Iker's ear. His warm breath landed on Iker's neck, making him shiver. Sawyer whispered, _''He wasn't on the plane...''_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_TBC......._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeaaaah John Murphy is here. Who else loves him? I figure he and Sawyer would be a good match to make this story a bit more interesting. 
> 
> So please feel free to drop by and leave me a note, I'm always super excited to read your thoughts. Don't be shy. <3 Thanks for reading this! <333


	4. Every man for himself.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iker and Sawyer reach some common ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for staying away for so long guys. I hope this chapter makes up for it. 
> 
> I'm bringing more Sawyer into this story because he deserves some more love and recognition. 
> 
> I hope you guys like it.

_Day one._

 

 

As the search party made their way back to the beach, Iker decided to walk beside Sawyer, to learn how he knew that John Murphy hadn't been on the plane.  
They had collected their medicine and supplies and the group was silent as they wandered through the vast jungle.  
At night, it wasn't as hot as during the day but the humidity was still quite consuming. Iker saw fireflies swirling around them, drown to the fire of his torch like moths to a flame. He slapped some mosquitos off of his arm before they could sting him. As desperate as he felt about not finding any trace of Sergio, the newcomer who apparently hadn't been on the plane was now his primary concern.

''Are you sure?'' Iker asked Sawyer, who was happily smoking a cigarette and looking as unreadable as he had before. His stormy blue eyes dark and twinkling.  
Sawyer exhaled a big cloud of smoke, raising an eyebrow. ''Bout what?''

''That he wasn't on the plane,'' he whispered, with a nod to John Murphy, who was talking quietly with Dani a few meters in front of them.  
''I sure am,''

''How can you know it for certain?''  
''I ain't just a pretty face you know. I've got a real good memory too. I always know the passengers manifest at heart. His name _ain't_ on it, trust me,''

Though he would never admit it, Iker was impressed with the American for a split second. ''Oh trust you? And why would I do that?''

''Hey I opened that door for ya didn't I? Anyway you can trust me on this: the kid weren't on the plane,'' Sawyer's voice was decisive and hushed. In that moment Iker wondered how in God's name someone as gnarly as Sawyer had ever became a flight attendant. You had to have a servile, kind, patient attitude and that wasn't something he though the American would be capable of, not even if he tried for a hundred years.

''Then who the hell is he?''

''How the fuck would I know? A _native_ probably,'' Sawyer shrugged. He clasped onto Iker's shirt and halted for a moment, bringing his face closer to his. The cigarette tip nearly burned against Iker's forearm. His voice was low and hushed. ''Whatever he says to you, it ain't true. I can tell you that much. Professional liar that one. A damn good actor though, his fear was _nearly_ believable enough to trick me,''

Iker frowned, bemused. ''And how would you know so much about professional liars?''  
''I just do chuckles, now come on, we're fallin' behind,'' Sawyer said, mysteriously. His smile had returned and Iker tried not to look at it too long, for it was far too distracting.

''Do you need to give nicknames to everyone?'' Iker growled.  
''Oh yeah, don't think _you're_ special,'' Sawyer retorted with his cheshire smirk.

A roaring sound erupted from the trees and the ground started shaking under their feet. Iker involuntarily grabbed onto Sawyer's arm for support. Dani hadn't acted so fast in front of them and lost his balance and tumbled into the dirt. The new kid, John Murphy stayed on his feet though. Jamie did too, but barely.

''It's an earthquake,'' Sawyer pointed out, monotone as if it was nothing.

''Probably,'' Iker retorted, unconvinced.  
''Definitely, I grew up in an earthquake zone. But you can let go of me now _sweetheart_ , it's already settlin' down,'' Iker released his arm, startled that he was still holding it. And feeling a bit embarrassed.

''Everyone okay?'' Jamie shouted. ''Fine!'' Iker called back.  
''Then let's get the hell out of here,''

As the group continued their walk to the beach, Iker decided to study the newcomer thoroughly. He wore quite modern day clothing-a pair of jeans, black sneakers and a gray shirt- and therefore looked like an ordinary passenger.  
His dark blond hair was a bit wild though and he had the small outline of a three day beard.  
He looked young and yet old at the same time. Dani was chatting with him and smiled every now and then. He was a good, genuine kid, who always saw the best in people. Iker was very attached to Dani, they all were. He was so pure.

Sawyer handed him a smoke but Iker declined, an appalled look on his face. ''Your loss,'' Sawyer smirked.  
''Yes I actually prefer to not destroy my lungs. In my career it's pretty important to cherish your lung capacity,'' Iker retorted dry.

''We're all dying Casillas, we just don't know when. You gotta let go of that control you need to function sometimes, have some fun,''

Iker tried to fight it but he was really shocked by that comment. He hoped it wouldn't show on his face but apparently it had. ''Sorry freckles, I'm just real good at reading people and you're like an open book,'' Sawyer stated, when he caught wind of Iker's discomfort.

Iker didn't like it, to feel as if he couldn't have any secrets for himself. Sawyer looking right through him with his piercing blue eyes was disheartening. Iker loved to keep his cards close to his chest, but around the blond American that seemed rather futile. When he would get back at the beach, he would stay clear of Sawyer from now on.  
For his own protection.  
He had to focus on finding Sergio. Sawyer was already a distraction, that he couldn't afford as long as his brother wasn't back at his side yet.

''I didn't see you on the plane either Sawyer,'' Iker said, suddenly. He heard the accusation in his own voice.  
''I served the tail section,''

''Then why are you here? We don't even know where the tail section is. It scattered somewhere else,''

Sawyer grinned. ''You have quite alright interrogation techniques you know, but I was in the front because I had to go to the bathroom and the two in the back were occupied.  
So I used the one in the front, but then the turbulence hit and I sat down in the front because there was no time to move back. And that's how I ended up with you guys. Satisfied?''

Iker shrugged callous. ''For now,''  
''You know you got some serious trust issues right?''

Now it was Iker's turn to laugh. ''Right and _you_ don't? I don't think you trust anyone but yourself,''  
To his amusement he saw that he had taken Sawyer by surprise with that comment. The eyes went wide and he pursed his full lips together defiantly. ''You know nothin' about me,''

''Whatever you say,'' Iker hummed, content to have achieved a small victory.  
''You really think you gonna find him alive out here?''

''Who?''  
''Your brother, I heard someone say he drowned,''

Iker saw red before he could stop himself.  
He slammed into Sawyer and knocked him against a palmtree, resisting the urge to bash his head against it repeatedly. ''Don't _ever_ talk about my brother,'' he threatened, voice raw with emotion.

Desperate tears were stinging behind his eyes. He wouldn't show them, not to the likes of Sawyer. He wasn't worthy of seeing his weakness. He was the type of guy who would use it against him when he was at his most vulnerable point. There was no fear in Sawyer's eyes, just amusement and curiosity.

Voices erupted from the dark and someone was hauling Iker back. The familiar cologne spreading through his nostrils told him that it had been Cris. ''What the _hell_ are you doing?'' he bristled.  
''Nothing,'' Iker spat back and wiggled himself out of Cris' death grip. ''Get the hell off of me!''

''Why don't I walk with him the rest of the way,'' Jamie suggested, rewarding Sawyer with a glance so disgusted and furious that it surprised Iker that Sawyer wasn't crumbling under it, and yet it wasn't a shock at all. Sawyer clearly had little regard for his own safety or happiness.

Iker let out a low growl and stepped away from them, wandering besides Dani and Cris for the rest of the way. He didn't look back once to see if Sawyer was still there. He was too afraid he would kill him if he saw that self important smirk again. Instead he focused his attention to John Murphy, who walked next to Karim in front of them, in silence. He studied him, trying to get a read on him but he got nothing.

And somehow he had a nagging feeling that Sawyer had been right about him. That he hadn't been on the plane. He didn't trust Sawyer but he had seemed so certain of it, that it made Iker question the young man's presence. If he hadn't been on the plane then why was he hiding there? What did he want with them? Was he trying to infiltrate their camp? And if so, for what reason?

When they reached the shoreline they were greeted by Lucas, who was standing 'watch' on Raul's orders. ''Guti is barely breathing anymore so I hope you found some medicine,'' he said desperately. ''Raul is losing it,''

''Is Zizou still alive?'' Karim wanted to know.  
Lucas nodded. ''Pepe found a heartbeat but it's very weak. He's almost gone,''

A darkness washed over Karim's face. ''He'll make it, he has to,''  
''I hope so,'' Lucas agreed, ''hey did you guys find Sergio?''

Iker shook his head wearily. ''No, but I know he's out there. We'll find him,''  
He heard Sawyer make an unbelieving snort behind them, and clenched his jaw so hard his teeth slammed together painfully. It took all of his restraint not to shout something at the attractive American.

The group scattered onto the beach, delivering the antibiotics to the sick players. Iker arrived at the dune where Guti was still lying unconscious and Raul was sitting with him, holding him in his lap. ''Where the _fuck_ have you guys been! He's half dead already,''

''We're sorry Raul, we were-delayed,'' Iker said, shuffling back and forth like a child because somethings never changed. When Raul was mad at you it felt as if you were being chided by a parent. He placed a hand to Guti's forehead. ''He's burning up,''

''I stitched up his leg as well as I could, but the risk of infection in this heat is almost unavoidable. We'll give him the antibiotics but I'm not sure we will be able to save him,'' Jamie warned, holding the bottle of pills in his hand. ''Just give them to him,'' Raul ordered brisk. ''He'll make it, he's stronger than he looks,''

''Is he allergic to anything?'' Jamie wanted to know. Raul shook his head. ''Not that I know off, why?''  
''Well if he's allergic to something in the pills it could be catastrophic,''

''He's not allergic, give them to him,''  
''I think we should decontaminate his leg one last time with some alcohol,'' Jamie mused, scratching his chin thoughtful. ''Just to be safe,''

''Iker go find some bottles of booze,'' Raul snapped. Iker nodded, turned on his heels and started searching. Surprisingly he found nothing. Before there had been mini bottles of vodka, whiskey and wine scattered over the beach but now they were gone.  
He ran into Marcelo and asked him if he'd seen them. ''Uh yeah, you might wanna check with that bitchy American guy, I saw him scrounging around a while back. Hey by the way, you didn't see Lukita out there did you? With the bodies in the plane I mean?''

Iker knew how attached Marcelo was to Luka and quickly reassured him. ''No, he was in the tail section buddy, he'll be okay. We'll find them,''  
''Yeah, I hope so, I'm really worried about him. He's not exactly the world's most handy guy you know. He shouldn't be alone out here, he'll get himself killed. A klutz like him,''

Iker smiled, knowing how true that was. ''He's not alone Marce, our friends are with him,''  
''You think so?''

''I know it,'' Iker lied. Of course he didn't, they could all be dead for all he knew but people needed hope, especially after a day like today.  
He searched the beach for Sawyer and found him on the farthest outskirts of it, sitting by himself on one of the airplane seats he had found in the wreckage. He was firmly clutching onto a letter. His eyes lit up when he saw Iker. ''Well, well, well, come to _kill_ me have you?''

''Not yet, I need the alcohol you stole from the beach,''  
''Oh do you? In the mood for a drink are we?''

Iker rolled his eyes at him. ''No, it's for Guti. We need to disinfect his leg before we give him the pills. So hand it over,''  
''And why would I do that?''

''Because he's going to die without it,''

''Look I'm not a bad guy Casillas, you can have two bottles, but I'm gonna want something in return. It's called commerce. So I give you something and I get something back in return, simple right?'' Sawyer said, pursing his lips together triumphant.

Iker balled his hands into fists at his sides and prayed for patience. ''Well what the fuck do you want for them then?''  
Sawyer's smile deepened. ''A kiss sounds good,''

Iker was perplexed, his jaw faltering and he blinked repeatedly. ''What?''  
''You want the hooch then fine, just give me a kiss for them,''

''Are you completely insane?''  
''Not really, seems like a fair deal right? You get what you want, and I get a little fun,''

Iker felt a little relieved that Sawyer hadn't said that he would get what he wanted with a kiss too. That would have been too much at the moment. However his brain was faltering again, failing to provide him with a way out of this mess.  
''Hey asshole, give us the booze before I kick your ass,'' Pepe had appeared at Iker's back, with the rest of the group behind him. ''In case you hadn't noticed: there's a lot more of us then there is of you, so unless you want to get your ass handed to you by all of us, you'll give us what we need-now!''

Sawyer chuckled at him. ''All right Rambo, hold the Spanish inquisition, here you go,''

Pepe snatched the bottles from his hand, rewarding him with a destructive glance that would scare everyone but Sawyer apparently.  
''You really are a disgusting man aren't you?'' Jamie growled furiously when the group had wandered back to the beach.

Sawyer gave him a sly look. ''You weren't so disgusted with me when you were fucking me,''

Iker, who had just taken a sip of water for his killer headache choked. ''Wait you and _him?''_ he gasped at Jamie. The Englishman shrugged. ''Just once, years ago,''  
''Don't lie, we did it three times,'' Sawyer reminded him. ''Once in the cockpit, once in the pantry and once at your place,''

''In the cockpit?'' Iker asked, bewildered. ''But how?''  
Jamie looked absolutely mortified. ''He's full of it, nothing he says is ever true Iker,''

Sawyer looked a little hurt by that. ''Sure, _I'm_ the liar. But I ain't lying about this and you fucking know it. He glared at Iker and a hint of concern made its way into his eyes. ''You're bleeding Casillas,''

Iker indeed felt something sticky roll over his temple. His wound had opened up again. Jamie inspected it with his calloused fingers. ''I'll stitch you up again, we have some clean bandages now. Oh but we need-''

Sawyer threw him a bottle of Scotch and Jamie caught it. ''You're welcome,''  
Iker nodded as a thank you and let himself be lead back to camp by Jamie who tended to him. When he had wrapped a large bandage around his head he felt the exhaustion of the day come over him. He could sleep for a year. Raul appeared on his left and sunk beside him in the sand. ''How's Guti?''

''Still breathing. Jamie says all we can do now is wait. He's not awake yet but he looks a little better. I had to get out of there for a bit, I can't stand seeing him like this. But his fever is going down, I think,'' Raul said hopeful.

''You think or you know?''  
''I don't know, maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see. I just _can't_ lose him Iker, I can't,''

''You won't, Guti's strong. He's way too stubborn to die,''

''So is Sergio,'' Raul assured him. A warm arm came around Iker and he allowed himself to be pulled into Raul's embrace. He hadn't realized how much he needed it until now. The security of his captain's arm around him.  
For to Iker, Raul was still the ultimate Real Madrid captain. Even though he had retired, he was still in charge and always would be. Little kids would wear his number seven jersey forever. They loved Cristiano obviously, but he wasn't the same.

Iker stared at John Murphy, who sat besides Dani and Lucas and was chatting amicably with them.

Raul saw him looking at them. ''So you picked up a straggler did you?''  
''Yeah, we found him in the bathroom,'' Iker said, hesitant whether he should tell Raul what Sawyer told him about Murphy. ''Casillas? A word?'' Sawyer's voice scared the bejesus out of Iker, who nearly jumped up in shock.

He had came out of thin air. Sawyer grinned apologetically. ''Sorry, couldn't very well knock on any doors now could I?''  
''What do you want?'' Iker sneered, grumpy.

''To talk, so you can leave your guard dog here,'' he said with a gaze at Pepe. ''Walk with me,''

Iker knew when he was being ordered to do something and this was an order packaged under a friendly tone. He rose to his feet with a sigh and followed Sawyer across the beach to the tree-line. They halted in front of Sawyer's stuff. ''What do you want?'' Iker repeated.

''We need to talk about the kid, John Murphy. You know that you can't tell anyone what I told you right?'' Sawyer halted at a tree and lit a smoke.  
''I-why not?''

''You'll spread a panic across the camp, plus if he knows we're onto him we can't find out why he's here.  
We need to handle this very delicately. He doesn't know that _we_ _know_ he's a spy. We need to use that against him. Leave him in the dark about it until we know why the hell he hid there and pretended to be on the plane.  
I can find out the truth, but not if you start telling people about him,'' Sawyer said, looking more serious than Iker had ever seen him.

''Okay but what if Jamie finds out the truth like you did? Maybe he realizes at some point that he wasn't on the plane,''

Sawyer cackled loud. ''Oh please, Jamie isn't even half as good with faces as I am. He barely remembers which passenger ordered what. He won't realize something is wrong with him, trust me. He never studies the manifest like I do. I trained him and he's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed if you know what I mean,''

''I don't get it,'' Iker heard himself say.  
''Don't get what?''

''How _you_ got to be a flight attendant,''  
Sawyer chuckled. ''Because I'm such an asshole?''

''Well-yeah,''  
''I'm quite good at hiding that when we're in the air sweet cheeks. I've got a good poker face,''

''But if he's so stupid then why did you sleep with him?''

''Well Jamie might be dumb but he's still hot, he has an amazing body. And I got a thing for smartass, grumpy guys like him. Plus it's not a lie that a lot of people sleep around on the job. We do actually do that. There's a lot of time to kill in the air.  
But uh you almost sounded a little jealous there Casillas,'' Sawyer grinned, clearly ravishing in the fact that he had made Iker blush again.

''Don't be crazy,''  
''Good argument,'' Sawyer said sarcastically.

''Christ, are you always this irritating?''

''Always,'' 

Iker shook his head. ''I'm going back now, my head is killing me and I need sleep,''  
''Fine, but we have an agreement then? We don't tell anyone about the kid?'' Sawyer asked as he extending his hand to Iker.

Iker took it apprehensively. The hand was warmer than he had anticipated. He released it as soon as he could. ''Deal,''  
''Good, oh wait. Take this,'' Sawyer searched through his stuff and handed Iker one of the navy neck pillows. ''For your head,''

Iker eyed it suspiciously. There was some sand sticking to it but it was remarkable soft and comfy. ''And what do you want in return?''  
''Nah this one is on the house,''

Iker sighed deep, aggravated and dumbfounded.  
Sawyer's lips curved up. ''This is killing you ain't it?''

''What is?''  
''Not being able to figure me out, it shows all over your face. You're constantly confused when you're around me. I told you that I'm a _complex_ guy. That weren't a lie,''

''I'm doing just fine Sawyer, good night-and thanks for this,'' he said with a nod to his pillow.

''U-hu, nighty night,'' Sawyer sank back into his seat and fished the letter out of his pocket. He started reading it in the faint light of his torch. By the intense, tormented way he stared at the paper Iker could tell that he already read it multiple times and knew the content at heart.

He resisted the urge to ask him what it was saying, mostly because he knew Sawyer wouldn't answer that, not until he trusted him and perhaps not even then. So he turned on his heels and walked back to Raul.

He laid down his head on the pillow and fell asleep instantly.  
Until a deafening roaring sound woke him up...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_TBC......._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you think? I get that most people won't be interested in this version because it's part two of an earlier story but I hope to find some fans who will like it. If I won't I'm not sure if I can go on with this. Writing a story without feedback to me isn't very doable. I'm one of those needy women who can't write without knowing what her readers think about it. If I don't get notes I'm afraid it wasn't good. Or that it was boring. 
> 
> So please take three seconds of your time to write me something if you like it. Just a tiny message can do wonders. 
> 
> Oh and who else ships Iker with Sawyer? Because I do. 
> 
> Thanks for reading this! <3

**Author's Note:**

> So what did you think? I hope this version will kick the first versions ass. Let me know if you feel the same. Thanks for reading! <3


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